[v] raise from a lower to a higher position; "Raise your hands"; "Lift a load"

[v] cause to puff up with a leaven; of dough; "unleavened bread"

[v] collect funds for a specific purpose; "The President raised several million dollars for his college"

[v] give a promotion to or assign to a higher position; "John was kicked upstairs when a replacement was hired"; "Women tend not to advance in the major law firms"; "I got promoted after many years of hard work"

\Raise\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Raised}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Raising}.] [OE. reisen, Icel. reisa, causative of r[=i]sa to
rise. See {Rise}, and cf. {Rear} to raise.]
1. To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place;
to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone
or weight. Hence, figuratively:
(a) To bring to a higher condition or situation; to
elevate in rank, dignity, and the like; to increase
the value or estimation of; to promote; to exalt; to
advance; to enhance; as, to raise from a low estate;
to raise to office; to raise the price, and the like.
This gentleman came to be raised to great
titles. --Clarendon.
The plate pieces of eight were raised three
pence in the piece. --Sir W.
Temple.
(b) To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to
excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as,
to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the
spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a
furnace.
(c) To elevate in degree according to some scale; as, to
raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature
of a room.
2. To cause to rise up, or assume an erect position or
posture; to set up; to make upright; as, to raise a mast
or flagstaff. Hence:
(a) To cause to spring up from recumbent position, from a
state of quiet, or the like; to awaken; to arouse.
They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their
sleep. --Job xiv. 12.
(b) To rouse to action; to stir up; to incite to tumult,
struggle, or war; to excite.
He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind.
--Ps. cvii.
25.
[AE]neas . . . employs his pains, In parts
remote, to raise the Tuscan swains. --Dryden.
(c) To bring up from the lower world; to call up, as a
spirit from the world of spirits; to recall from
death; to give life to.
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you, that God should raise the dead ? --Acts
xxvi. 8.
3. To cause to arise, grow up, or come into being or to
appear; to give to; to originate, produce, cause, effect,
or the like. Hence, specifically:
(a) To form by the accumulation of materials or
constituent parts; to build up; to erect; as, to raise
a lofty structure, a wall, a heap of stones.
I will raise forts against thee. --Isa. xxxix.
3.
(b) To bring together; to collect; to levy; to get
together or obtain for use or service; as, to raise
money, troops, and the like. ``To raise up a rent.''
--Chaucer.
(c) To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or
propagated; to grow; as, to raise corn, barley, hops,
etc.; toraise cattle. ``He raised sheep.'' ``He raised
wheat where none grew before.'' --Johnson's Dict.
Note: In some parts of the United States, notably in the
Southern States, raise in also commonly applied to the
rearing or bringing up of children.
I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the
mountains of the North. --Paulding.
(d) To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise,
come forth, or appear; -- often with up.
I will raise them up a prophet from among their
brethren, like unto thee. --Deut. xviii.
18.
God vouchsafes to raise another world From him
[Noah], and all his anger to forget. --Milton.
(e) To give rise to; to set agoing; to occasion; to start;
to originate; as, to raise a smile or a blush.
Thou shalt not raise a false report. --Ex.
xxiii. 1.
(f) To give vent or utterance to; to utter; to strike up.
Soon as the prince appears, they raise a cry.
--Dryden.
(g) To bring to notice; to submit for consideration; as,
to raise a point of order; to raise an objection.
4. To cause to rise, as by the effect of leaven; to make
light and spongy, as bread.
Miss Liddy can dance a jig, and raise paste.
--Spectator.
5. (Naut.)
(a) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher
by drawing nearer to it; as, to raise Sandy Hook
light.
(b) To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets,
i. e., Let go tacks and sheets.
6. (Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use that is,
to create it. --Burrill.
{To raise a blockade} (Mil.), to remove or break up a
blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces
employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or
dispersing them.
{To raise a check}, {note}, {bill of exchange}, etc., to
increase fraudulently its nominal value by changing the
writing, figures, or printing in which the sum payable is
specified.
{To raise a siege}, to relinquish an attempt to take a place
by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be
relinquished.
{To raise steam}, to produce steam of a required pressure.
{To raise the wind}, to procure ready money by some temporary
expedient. [Colloq.]
{To raise Cain}, or {To raise the devil}, to cause a great
disturbance; to make great trouble. [Slang]
Syn: To lift; exalt; elevate; erect; originate; cause;
produce; grow; heighten; aggravate; excite.